Note 12 — II.

Apart from the horrid practice of female infanticide, now put a stop to by a humane Government, many instances might be given of the extreme detestation in which the birth of a girl is held even by her mother. Among others I may cite the following: A woman who was the mother of four daughters and of no son, at the time of her fifth delivery laid apart one thousand Rupees for distribution among the poor in the event of her getting a son, when, lo! she gave birth to a female child again, and what did she do? she at once flung aside the money, mournfully declaring at the same time, that "she has already four firebrands incessantly burning in her bosom and this is the fifth, which is enough to burn her to death."